


The Future Dies

by military_bluebells



Series: Sins Are Forgiven [1]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Gen, Heavy Angst, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Underage Sex, Manipulation, Minor Kate Argent/Derek Hale, Spark Claudia Stilinski, Spark Stiles Stilinski, The Hale Fire (Teen Wolf), Warning: Kate Argent, as Derek is 16/17, seriously, technically
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-26
Updated: 2020-03-26
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:28:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23316181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/military_bluebells/pseuds/military_bluebells
Summary: “I think you’ll always be pack.” Stiles said softly.“What do you mean?” Derek asked.“I think no matter what you do, you’ll always be pack to me.” Stiles said seriously.Derek nodded, “You’ll always be pack.”Stile gave him a toothy grin.Or, the months leading up to the Hale Fire are, in retrospect, some of the best and worst of Derek’s life.
Relationships: Derek Hale & Stiles Stilinski
Series: Sins Are Forgiven [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1676776
Comments: 3
Kudos: 25





	The Future Dies

**Author's Note:**

> Well, this is the first fanfic I ever finished so, be gentle I guess, this was written at least a year ago.

“Why are you smiling?” Stiles asked abruptly, while they were standing by their lockers.

“What?” Derek answered as he closed his locker. He shuffled his English books around in his arms until he could hold them safely.

“You’re smiling, why?” Stiles asked, his arms flailing in front of him.

“Maybe I’m happy.” Derek replied, pushing off his locker.

Stiles narrowed his eyes at Derek, “Happy? Dude you haven’t been happy since… yeah. Why now? Have I got something on my face or… I did remember to put pants on, right?” Stiles paused, looking down at himself. “Did I miss something as we came in ‘cus if I missed like I don’t know, Mitchell falling up the stairs or something… wait can you fall up stairs or is it called something else like-”

“Stiles,” Derek sighed and turned to look back at Stiles, who’d stopped in the middle of the hallway. A couple of people stared but returned to what they were doing before when they realise it was just Stiles.

“Yeah?” Stiles said, snapping back to reality.

“We need to get to class.” He replied blankly.

“Oh right.”

“And Stiles, don’t call me ‘dude’.”

* * *

The next time Stiles asked was at lunch time. They were sitting on the bleachers, just the two of them, Laura had already left school and Cora wasn’t old enough yet. Derek’s friends with the guys on his basketball team but he doesn’t always hang out with them, especially after…

“So, you didn’t answer my question early, why are you so happy?” Stiles asked around his sandwich.

“Does there need to be a reason?”

“Okay first of all don’t answer questions with rhetorical questions, you know how much that annoys me and two, you’re generally not a happy person it’s like… unnatural, you’re only happy when someone makes you happy and I know that someone isn’t me ‘cus I haven’t tripped over anything recently.” Stiles rambled as he shifted through his pack lunch.

“Why do you think you tripping over stuff makes me happy?”

“Derek, you laughed until you cried when I tripped and fell into a fountain and every time I trip in general you snort and get this annoying half-smile, half-smirk on your face.”

“No, I don’t.” Derek said, furrowing his brow. Stiles gaped at him for a second before throwing his arms around,

“Yes, you do but that’s not the important part of this conversation, you’re deflecting.” Stiles pointed an accusing finger at Derek.

“I’m not telling you Stiles.” Derek said, trying to stop a smirk forming and looked down at his sandwich.

“Ha so there _is_ a reason!” Stiles exclaimed. Derek huffed and rolled his eyes but didn’t correct him. The bell saved Derek from any further interrogation, but he was followed across the yard by Stiles’ parting shot.

“Dude, I’m so going to find out!”

“Don’t call me ‘dude’” Derek yelled back, a soft smile slipping on to his lips before he could stop it.

* * *

Derek didn’t see Stiles for the rest of the day, he wasn’t in any of Stiles’s classes, with him being a year younger and they don’t really pass in the hallway much either, so the next time they saw each other was on the bus. Derek didn’t sit with Stiles, he sat with his basketball friends at the back of the bus. Stiles usually sat alone if Derek didn’t sit with him, mostly because people found his fidgeting a bit weird. They got off the bus together though, a block from where the long road to the Hale house was.

Stiles didn’t ask straight away, he was capable, amazingly, of being subtle. Instead he rambled about something at happened in fifth period though Stiles hadn’t actually said what happened yet. Derek listened anyway, he’s used to Stiles’s tangents, they can be soothing sometimes.

They stopped, well Stiles stopped, just before the large rock on the side of the road that mark the exact boundary of how far a wolf can hear from the front door of the house. He and Stiles, with some help from Laura, had marked it one weekend when they were younger.

“Are you going to tell me?” Stiles asked seriously.

Derek sighed, “I’ll tell you, just not yet, okay?”

Stiles nodded silently before carrying on down the road. The rest of the walk was in a thick silence, making Derek want to squirm. He knew not telling Stiles would backfire, Stiles for all that he’s an overenergetic child, took his relationships seriously and liked to know that he’s trusted. He will tell him eventually, Derek promises to himself, just not yet.

* * *

Stiles was back to normal by the next day, rambling about the stuff his mum had shown him last night. Stiles switched the topic to the test he had in English as soon as they entered the school, Derek’s mum had been very clear to them and Laura and Cora, that they weren’t to talk about the supernatural in public places or to anyone outside the pack. Derek found the whole thing irritating, if he’d been able to talk to… Paige… then she wouldn’t have died.

Stiles noticed the sudden change in Derek’s mood, sometimes Derek wondered if Stiles had lied to him when he said that Sparks couldn’t smell emotions like werewolves.

“Hey Sourwolf, what’s got your tail in a twist?”

“Nothing Stiles.” Derek said shortly.

“Oh… okay. Hey, did you remember your science homework, you were going to hand it in early.” That’s one of the good things about Stiles’s ADHD, it causes him to switch between subjects more, which means when the subject isn’t something Derek wants to talk about, Stiles usually switches quite quickly subconsciously.

“Yes, I remembered.”

* * *

Kate texted him that night. Said she’d like to meet up on the weekend, for coffee at a coffee shop in the centre of town.

Derek told his mum he was going with some of his basketball team to the mall.

* * *

Pack Nights are on a Friday, but Sunday afternoons are spent training or in Cora’s case, doing the homework she hasn’t completed.

He and Peter wrestled on the grass behind the house, with his dad’s supervision. Talia sat with Laura on the porch, talking her through the practices and responsibilities of being an Alpha. Derek’s glad he doesn’t have to learn it all, Deaton had sent over five books of Treaty Negotiation for Laura to read and although Derek likes reading, he doesn’t enjoy it that much. Claudia and Stiles sat on the grass by the stairs, facing each other, Cora laying not far from them on her front, flipping through her homework. Claudia held a pile of herbs in her hand and carefully guided Stiles through a spell or something.

Peter managed to pin Derek to the ground, his arm twisted behind his back just over the edge of pain.

“Let him go Peter,” his dad called from the porch. Peter released him after a second, Peter never did seem to do as Derek’s dad told him to very quickly. Derek’s sure it’s to do with Peter’s large ego.

“You weren’t focusing nephew. Has something caught your attention?” Peter asked silkily. It raised Derek’s hackles when Peter spoke to him like that, it reminded him of memories he’d rather not think about. His dad must have noticed a change in Derek’s scent because he called Peter away to look at a leak in the kitchen.

Derek wondered over to Claudia and Stiles and sat to the side, far enough away that any stray sparks or spells won’t hit him. He’d learnt that the hard way when Stiles had just started out, his hair didn’t stop being green until three weeks later.

They were doing something different now, without herbs. Stiles was tracing a symbol in the air in front of him, his eyes glowing a muted yellow, not Beta gold exactly, there’s more Stiles in the colour if that’s possible. It’s a lot different to the deep purple that Claudia creates when she does magic. Derek can feel the magic around them, it made the air heavier and created a… weird, electric scent.

Stiles finished tracing the symbol then closed his eyes, mumbling some words under his breath. When Stiles opened his eyes and held out his palm, a glowing gold ball grew out of his palm. It twisted and flowed into a thick line, growing longer and longer until it flowed above Stiles’ head, winding around and around in circles.

Claudia smiled proudly before telling Stiles to move it toward one of the trees.

Stiles guided the rope of gold around himself before throwing his left hand out. The gold rope flew through the air towards one of the trees then exploded before it hit the tree, spewing gold sparks everywhere and burning the truck of the trees it was closest to and the grass below.

From the look on Claudia’s face that wasn’t what was supposed to happen.

Stiles still seemed proud though and quickly summoned another, quicker this time, even without tracing the symbol. The raised eyebrow from Claudia told Derek that wasn’t supposed to happen either.

* * *

Kate texted him, asking him to stay for the night on Friday.

He told his mum he was staying with one of the basketball team, Kit.

He didn’t see Stiles narrowing his eyebrows.

* * *

He stayed the night with Kate. She was patient but didn’t hold back. He was grateful, ever since Paige everyone in the family treated him with gloves like he was a child. Except maybe Stiles. Kate didn’t treat him like glass at all, she treated him like an equal.

He lost his virginity that night.

It didn’t feel as special as his mum had told him it would be, then again as Derek’s growing up, a lot of the things his mum and dad told him weren’t appearing to be true or right. Kate said that’s normal, everyone’s parents are wrong sometimes.

* * *

Stiles asked him about it at school on the Monday, him and his mum had been visiting one of his aunts, Adella, in San Jose over the weekend, not that it really mattered, he’s stayed with Kate until the evening on Saturday and slept most of Sunday.

“How was the sleep over with Kit?” Stiles had asked at lunch.

“Fine, we just played a bit of basketball and watched movies.” Derek lied, he’d had time to prepare the answer, he’d perfected the art of lying to his mum and dad but strangely it’s hard to lie to Stiles. He hummed, “Nice,” and didn’t say any more about it.

That really should have tipped Derek off at the time, but he’d just been glad he wasn’t being asked to many questions.

* * *

“I know you weren’t at Kit’s Derek,” Stiles said plainly on Tuesday. They’d been studying together; Stiles had an Econ test in the morning and Derek had an English test in the afternoon.

“I was,” Derek protested even though he knew it wasn't not going to work.

“No, you weren’t.” Stiles said seriously, “I know because I asked him. And I also know you weren’t with any of the other team members either because I asked all of them too. So, where were you, actually?”

Derek opened his mouth to give the back-up lie – Stiles was rubbing off on him – but Stiles cut in before he could say it.

“Don’t lie.” He said sternly.

“How did you-”

“You have this look when you’re about to lie, it’s how I knew the first time you lied and I’m not going to tell you what that look is because then you’ll be aware, and I lose my in.”

Derek stayed silent for a while before saying, “I was staying with this girl I met, she’s… not my girlfriend but-"

“Your fuckbuddy?” Stiles said with a smirk, but it didn’t reach his eyes exactly.

Derek cringed, “That’s weird.”

“But true though. Who is she?”

“Her name's Kate, she’s really-” Derek paused before he could say ‘nice’. Nice was Paige, no Kate’s more confident, passionate, fiery.

“Good at sex?” Stiles supplied. Derek felt himself blush. Stiles shook his head, “Okay this talk’s getting way too personal, but next time just tell me dude, you worried me.”

Derek nodded, and they returned to the not-so-silent silence.

* * *

“I’m going to Kate’s tonight.” Derek whispered as they sat in the library. He didn’t look up from his History textbook, he didn’t want to see the look Stiles would give him. He also didn’t really know what emotion the look was, he’d never seen it before.

“What you going to tell Talia? She’s not going to keep believing that you’re going to your friends’ houses.” Stiles said plainly. The dull tone made Derek’s wolf whine. He risked a glance. Stiles wasn’t looking at him, just at his book and notepad, his face blank as far as Derek can see.

His wolf whined again.

“Why wouldn’t she? It’s not like she talks to me anyway.”

Stiles looked up, catching Derek’s eye and hissed across the table, “Dude she’s your mum, she’s just trying to give you space.”

“She’s treating me like a kid.” Derek hissed back.

Stiles snorted, “It’s not like you’ve given her a reason to trust you.”

Derek flinched and stared at Stiles, who went back to reading his book like he hadn’t just said that. Derek’s wolf howled but he ignored it, shooting back, “Shut up!” Stiles rolled his eyes and Derek felt a sense of rage fill him. Stiles opened his mouth to say something but closed it quickly, turning back to his book. Derek should have let it be, but he couldn’t.

“What?” he said harshly, even to his own ears. Stiles sighed and looked back up at him.

“I’m just telling you what you don’t want to hear. That it isn’t a surprise that Talia’s worried about you after what happen and that this whole Kate thing isn’t as good of an idea as you think it is because let’s be real here, you’re lying to your family, your pack, again, and that didn’t work out so well last time, did it?”

Derek gritted his teeth and growled, “You have no idea what you’re talking about.” He slammed his book shut, grabbed his bag and stormed out of the library. He didn’t look back, didn’t stop walking until he was a block away from the school. Stiles hadn’t followed him which Derek was glad about because he didn’t really want to talk to him, see him. He flipped his phone out unconsciously and called the one person now who understood him.

“Kate, can you pick me up from the corner store on 34th?”

_“Sure, honey. What’s up?”_

“Nothing. I just want to see you.”

* * *

It was later that night, when he’d called his mum to say he was staying at a friend’s house, that he curled up beside Kate after several rounds of hot, rough, unforgiving sex.

“I don’t know what’s wrong, Stiles isn’t usually like this.” Derek said, his head resting on a pillow, Kate’s arm draped above him, her hand combing through his hair, her sharp nail scratching his scalp pleasantly.

“It’s like you said Derek, Stiles can’t understand. You said he’s never been in a relationship, so he doesn’t know what you’re feeling, what we’re feeling.” Kate smiled, her nail tracing down his chest.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right, it’s just that arguing with Stiles, hurts I guess. I’ve known him since forever, he was the only one who didn’t treat me like a kid after Paige,”

He’d told Kate about Paige, a slight abridged version, after she’d caught him crying to some classical music had played on the radio. He’d been embarrassed but Kate had embraced him and distracted him from the memories.

“Yeah but he’s a kid right, he’s younger than you and hasn’t experienced what you have, so really his understanding can only go so far before he’s out of his depth.” Kate said, tucking herself closer to Derek, one of her legs tangling with his, her front pressing against his side.

“I guess, I just… hate arguing with him.”

“I’m sure he’ll come around.” Kate said with a sharp smile. She chuckled and started to slide down his body. Derek could feel himself hardening the further down she went. He shivered as she licked a strip of his abs. “Why don’t we have another round, you can forget about them for a bit, hmmm.”

Derek nodded quickly.

* * *

Derek avoided Stiles for a couple of days after, it wasn’t too hard, but Derek felt that was because Stiles was avoiding him too. If Stiles had been trying to talk to him, he would have been able to corner him by the end of the first day. As it was, Derek didn’t see Stiles until Pack Night.

Derek was laying on his bed, reading through one of the book’s his literature teacher had recommended when his door was pushed open. He knew who it was straight away, most of his family tended to knock before coming into his room and Cora was still out with Laura at the library, something about a school project, Derek hadn’t been listening, he and Kate had been talking about his latest lesson in English.

“What do you want Stiles?” Derek huffed out, not looking up.

“Thought you’d want your History textbook back, you have an essay due soon.” Derek felt something drop onto the bed beside him. He looked across and he could see his History textbook which now had bright pieces of paper hanging out of the top. He looked up in confusion and saw Stiles shuffling by his door, not even two steps in. Stiles was pulling at the sleeves of his sweater and shuffling his feet, still with their shoes on, but stopped when he made eye contact with Derek. They stared at each other in silence until Stiles broke, ducking his head down and returning to pulling his sleeves.

“The pieces of paper are some of the pages you could use for your essay, it’s on the Great Depression, right?”

“Yeah it is… thanks.” Derek said lamely. Stiles nodded but didn’t move from his spot. Derek watched Stiles fidget until Stiles blurted out,

“You know your eyes turned blue the other day,”

Derek looked up so quickly his neck clicked but Stiles looked away and shrugged.

“I know it’s not that big of a deal, but you know it’s the first time you’ve done it to me, flashed your eyes like that, like you were going to kill me, rip my throat out with your teeth and stuff. It’s why I didn’t follow you after because to be honest, it scared the living crap out of me.”

Stiles met Derek’s eye then and his wolf whined. He saw the look in Stiles’s eyes, the wariness, the anxiety, _the fear_ ;

“I-” Derek started before he was cut off.

“It’s okay, just don’t do it again yeah,”

“Yeah,” Derek whispered.

Stiles smiled slightly and waved a hand about, “I’ll see you downstairs.” He stepped back, once, twice and then he was gone. Derek swallowed and turned back to his book until his mum called him down for the movie.

When Derek got downstairs, his parents and Claudia were positioned on the sofa, Laura and Cora at their feet; Peter in his armchair, Aunt Anna, Ryan and Scarlett curled together on the other sofa, Tom sitting with them. Adam and Leah had pulled over the other armchair and squished together on it, Stiles sat on the floor between the sofa and armchair. Derek sat beside him, letting his knee rest against Stiles’s. Stiles gave him a side smile and relaxed, his shoulder bumping against Derek’s.

His wolf settled for the first time since the library.

* * *

Everything went back to normal after that. He and Stiles studied at the library every Friday until six, sometimes Laura or Cora would join them, then after they’d return to the house for Pack Night. He saw Kate as often as he could without raising suspicions, every other day or week, never the same day in a row.

Life carried on peacefully until Halloween.

* * *

“So, Derek, are you going as a werewolf to that party you’re going to?” Kate asked out of the blue. Derek couldn’t stop his eyes going wide, but Kate only chuckled and patted his shoulder.

“I know about werewolves Derek: my last name is Argent.” She said.

“Argent,” Derek repeated, thoughts swirling around in his head. He’d heard the name before his mum had mentioned it once, why would she-

“You’re a hunter.” Derek realised.

“No, my family are but I’ve never agreed with it.” Kate said strongly, “Talia’s always been a good person, I don’t see why I should hate her, especially when she raised such a kind son.” Kate came and sat by Derek, resting her hand on his knee. “And really, the world’s changing, I think we have nothing to fear.”

Derek felt his eyes well up and bit his lip to control himself. Kate smiled at him and curled her arm around his shoulder and leant in close,

“I’m not scared of you Derek,” she purred softly into his ear. Derek relaxed into her hold and wrapped his arms around her middle. He let himself cry into her shoulder, her hands brushing through his hair as she hushed him and whispered sweet nothings into his ears.

Derek felt lighter than he had since before Paige. He hugged her tightly and thanked her for not being afraid of him, of his wolf.

* * *

“An Argent really?” Stiles said as they lay on the grass at school on Monday.

“Yeah.”

“Are you going for the whole Romeo and Juliet thing, I’m from one camp, she’s from another but because we love each other everything’s going to be okay, because that didn’t work out for them very well.”

“Their families agreed to put aside their differences.”

“Yeah but Romeo and Juliet were kinda, you know, dead.”

* * *

Stiles ended up dragging him to the party, Derek didn’t know if they were actually invited but they got through the door easily enough. Derek hadn’t dressed up as a werewolf despite both Stiles and Kate suggesting it, instead Stiles, Laura and Cora had dressed him up as a skeleton, with full make up. He’d refused to wear the whole outfit, so they let him dress in his normal clothes and his leather jacket. Laura had also insisted that he let her gel his hair up, so his hair was faintly spiked now. Stiles had come dressed as a Jedi apparently.

Parties was pretty boring for Derek as he generally didn’t like big too many people and he couldn’t get drunk, so he just spent them watching drunk kids embarrass themselves, which was only entertaining for a little while. He couldn’t be close to people who didn’t know the secret, which was pretty much everyone in the school, so he didn’t have many friends to talk to.

He leant on a wall for the whole night, sipping some cocktail that Stiles handed him at the beginning of the party. He’d lost Stiles minutes after they came through the door and he would have started to look for him, but Kate texted him and he knew Stiles would be alright for a bit on his own.

It’s when the clock on his phone glowed a sharp two am that he realised he hadn’t seen Stiles for four hours. He shoved his phone in his pocket hastily and listened as closely as he could with the loud music pumping through the house, trying to find Stiles’s heartbeat. It’s usually easy, Stiles’s heartbeat is slightly too fast to be normal but as everyone’s dancing there are lots of fast heartbeats.

Derek switched tactics, wondering through the house, trying to find the mix of honey, fresh rain and trees, and the chemical scent of medicine. He searched the whole house, but he found barely a trace of Stiles. He moved into the garden next and caught the scent. It wound through the garden and toward the sizable tree at the bottom. Derek caught sight of Stiles, sitting with his back leaning on the tree, his legs splayed out in front of him.

He crouched by Stiles’ side, “Stiles?”

Stiles blinked and lifted his head up slightly, his warm brown eyes meeting Derek’s. Stiles laughed and waved a hand in front of Derek’s face,

“Heeeyyy, Sourwolf.” Stiles slurred, his lips curling into a large smile.

Derek sighed, “How much have you had to drink Stiles?”

“Not a lot, like five maybe or was it six, I feel like it’s in the high single digit but not double digit you know cus that would be like _wrong_.”

Derek took a breath before grasping Stiles under his arms. Stiles stumbled into Derek’s chest, laughing as he righted himself. Derek started to pull him towards the house, but Stiles resisted, tugging Derek towards the bottom of the garden.

“Where are you going Stiles? I need to take you home.”

Stiles shook his head, “We can’t go through the house, my -hic- my spark…”

“What about your spark?” Derek asked.

“Well it’s like, flaring and stuff, it’s why I uh came down, down here, I could you know, feel my hand burning.”

“Burning?!”

Stiles shrugged, “Not like ‘ahhh I’m burning’ burning. Sorta like ‘hmmm my hands are warm’.”

Derek blinked for a second then shook his head and started to pull Stiles toward the preserve. Stiles tripped over his feet to follow him but luckily didn’t fall.

“Why the preserve then?” Derek asked after the house had disappeared from view.

“My spark likes the preserve,” Stiles said, sounding offended, “plus if I, you know, overload I won’t blow-up the town.”

“Overload!” Derek shouted, rearing back to look at Stiles.

Stiles shrugged, “You’re not the only one who has secrets you know.” He said, carrying on the direction they were going.

“So, you can overload now.” Derek said when he caught up with Stiles.

Stiles huffed, “Sure. My mum said I’ll probably need to get some stabilising tattoos or something.”

“Stabilising tattoo’s?”

Stiles rolled his eyes, “Yeah, tattoos to help me control my spark, ancient symbols probably,”

“Why? Your mum doesn’t have any.”

“Actually she does, on her back.” Stiles waved his arm over his shoulder, “She needed them when she was younger to control her spark.” Stiles wasn’t tripping as much but was still stumbling around, but Derek didn’t know how much of that was just Stiles and not drunk Stiles.

“Why does she need them?” Derek asked.

“Did and cus she had too much power.”

“Did?”

Stiles stopped and twisted on his heels to look at Derek, “Have you done something to your ear cus you’re repeating everything I’m sayin’”

Derek huffed, “No I can hear it’s just, this is all new.”

“Now you know how I felt about Kate, well, feel.” Stiles threw over his shoulder as he turned again and headed off deeper into the preserve.

“Do you know where we’re going?” Derek asked, deciding to let the Kate comment go. He couldn’t afford to lose Stiles in the preserve.

“Yes, we’re going to the lake.”

“Why are we going to the lake?”

“Cus I don’t want my parents to see me like this and the stars are pretty by the lake.”

Derek sighed but continued to follow Stiles. They walked for some time, jumping over fallen trees and winding between others. Derek paused on the top of a rocky outcrop as Stiles began to descend through the rocks. He looked out across the lake, the moonlight reflecting off the dark surface of the water, the stars perfectly visible in the cloudless sky. He turned away from the view to watch Stiles slip in between the rocks and out across the dirt path, stumbling even less now. Derek decided to jump down off the outcrop instead of going the way Stiles went, he couldn’t let Stiles get too far out of his sight.

“Show off,” Stiles huffed when Derek landed crouched beside him on the dirt path.

They carried on down the small slope to the water’s edge. Stiles flopped down just in front of where the waves were gently lapping at the sand. Derek sat beside him, crossing his legs and letting his arms rest against them. They sat in silence for a while, looking at the stars and the half-crescent moon, watching their breath mist.

“You said ‘did’, why?” Derek asked. Stiles made a confused noise, so Derek added, “I asked why does your mum need the tattoos, you said did.”

“She doesn’t have as much power now as she did, don’t get me wrong, my mum’s still more powerful than most Sparks but she isn’t as powerful as she was.”

“Why?”

Stiles sighed, “We’re not completely sure but… we think when she had me, I took some of her spark, to have my own you know. My mum said that her oldest sister, Adella, read that for a Spark to have a child, they must sacrifice part of their spark so that the child can live. That’s why she isn’t as powerful, because for all sparks get their power from their will, they have like, a base level of Spark juice. If they lose some of that they can’t be as powerful, ‘cus the foundations aren’t there you know, there’s isn’t as much for their spark to build on, I guess. Does that make sense?”

“Yeah.” Derek replied.

“It’s why a lot of Spark either don’t have any children or very few. My mum said her colour changed too, you know how my spark is yellow and my mum’s is purple, well before she had me her magic was red.”

“Why did it change?”

Stiles shrugged, “Mum says that the spark kind of, reflect who you are? She said that a lot of Sparks with like black or darker shades of colours tend to become Dark Sparks, though it’s not limited to those colours, I mean, I could become a Dark Spark if I really wanted to and my mum wasn’t a Dark Spark so it’s not entirely reliable. She said she changed after she had me, she was less… reckless, more likely to sit and think you know so her spark changed to reflect that. Purple supposed to be the colour of wisdom you know.”

Derek nodded, and they fell into another silence. That was happening more often now than ever, more than after Paige. Derek closed his eyes for a second and focused on Stiles’s pack bond. It’d been a while since he’d tuned into them too.

He couldn’t really feel much coming from Stiles’s, which was weird because usually Stiles’s was the loudest pack bond. He could feel the ever-present thrum of anxiety, he’d become used to it by now. There were little tendrils of concern and unease but larger stems of joy and happiness radiating from the bond, so Derek decided the concern and unease were probably linked to the anxiety.

Derek checked his phone, a bright 3:24 flashing on the home screen. Derek stood up and brushed off the sand on his trouser; poking Stiles with his foot when the boy didn’t move. Stiles batted Derek’s foot away and jumped up from the floor. They trekked back through the forest towards where Derek knew his house was.

“You’re staying the night, right?” Derek asked as they moved through the trees.

“Yeah, my dad shouldn’t be at the station tonight so Mum’ll be there with him and I don’t really want to wake them, it isn’t often that Dad isn’t working nights.”

“He hasn’t noticed that you and your mum are always at our house?”

“He knows that Talia and Mum are close friends, he just doesn’t know why, but he’s never asked, and he also knows that I’m friends with you and it’s not like I have many other friends, so he doesn’t really bat an eyelid if I stay around a lot.”

Derek nodded.

They reached the house before four, a few lights were on but not many. Peter greeted them on the stairs as he passed, probably going to the library. Derek doesn’t really know when Peter sleeps because no matter when Derek’s up, Peter’s always somewhere. They passed Laura’s open bedroom door, which probably meant she was at her friends.

Derek stopped in front of the bathroom closest to his room and turned to Stiles, “I’m going to wash all this stuff off my face, but I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Stiles nodded, “Don’t forget behind your ears dear,” He crooned like an old lady as he walked backwards down the hallway. Derek gave him the finger and he could hear Stiles snickering as he walked into his own room. Derek rolled his eyes and began to wash off all the black and white face paint.

He didn’t get into bed until almost five and he was sure he still had paint on his face.

* * *

The next big event was Derek’s birthday a week later.

It was a small affair like it always was, a normal day apart from having Derek’s favourite meal for dinner and Derek opening his presents after. He got clothes from his parents, again, though this time his father’s leather jacket was nestled in between the presents; he got money from Uncle Peter as always, a pair of headphones from Laura, new fingerless gloves from Cora, some different soap from Aunt Anna and Uncle Ryan and Scarlett, a set of books from Adam and Leah, a new watch from Rose and Jace and some chocolate from their son Tom. Stiles gifted him another stuffed wolf, with brown fur this time, to add to his collection, it’d become a running joke now, that Stiles buys him a stuffed wolf every year for his birthday. Claudia gave him one of her own creations, it was like a lava lamp but instead of floating blobs, sparks of various colour appeared.

Stiles explained to him how it was made later on, when they were watching a movie in Derek’s room. Derek can’t say he was listening fully, he wouldn’t be able to explain it to anyone, but he didn’t fully ignore Stiles either, his voice could be soothing sometimes.

He spent the next night with Kate, who gave him her own present.

* * *

Soon it was Thanksgiving and the house is even more packed than usual. There’s a reunion between his mum and her old school friends, all werewolves. There’s a couple of old Betas who were turned by his grandparents but found new packs to belong to. A friend of his grandparents visited, an Alpha from the territory north of Beacon Hills.

Kate’s became a safe haven, away from all the people coming in and out of the house in the days leading up to and even after Thanksgiving. He couldn’t go as often as he’d wanted to, Stiles had pointed out that it would be unusual for Derek to be missing often and it would be more noticeable with all the people filtering through the house. Derek knew Stiles didn’t like his relationship with Kate, he’d made that clear several times, at varying volumes.

“I just don’t see why you have to visit her so much,” Stiles said as he was laying on Derek’s bed, his head hanging over the side.

“You’d understand if you actually had a girlfriend.” Derek replied, flipping to the next page of his book.

“Is it a sex thing cus it feels like it’s a sex thing,”

Derek sighed and turned to look at Stiles, “It’s nothing to do with sex.”

Stiles snorted, a large smirk taking over his face, “Dude, it’s totally a sex thing.”

“Don’t call me ‘dude’.”

“Aww did I hurt your big bad wolf feelings, Dare bear?”

Derek growled, “Don’t call me that.”

“Sure, Sourwolf.”

Derek snapped his book closed and twisted, full bodily, to face Stiles, his nose inches away from Stiles’s forehead. “Are you _trying_ to annoy me?” 

“I’m bored and you’re the most interesting thing around at the moment. Plus, you’re easy to annoy _and_ ,” Stiles poked the space between Derek’s eyebrow, “you get this cute winkle between your eyebrows.”

Derek narrowed his eyes at Stiles and turned back to his book. Stiles didn’t disturb Derek for a while and that should have been a red flag. He’d just finished the latest chapter when his head was hit with something, hard. The shock made him drop his book and following his training, he rolled forward before turning back, his fangs already out of his mouth and his eyes glowing. Kneeling on his bed was Stiles, one of Derek’s pillows in his hands and a huge grin on his face. Derek sighed, letting his eyes dull and his fangs retract.

He ducked his head before making a run at Stiles, who squeaked and tried to dodge out of the way. He was somewhat successful, Derek was only able to grab Stiles’s legs when he pounced. Stiles tried to crawl up the bed, but Derek grabbed a hold of his waist and tugged as hard as he could. He almost got an arm under Stiles’s armpit, but the teen played dirty and kicked out, hitting Derek in the groin. Derek lost his grip on Stiles, who then kicked Derek off the bed. Derek reached out and managed to grab a fist full of Stiles’ t-shirt, dragging him down with him.

They landed in a jumble of limbs on the floor, Derek’s pretty sure his elbow went into Stiles’s stomach, but he didn’t worry as Stiles’s laughter rang in his ear. Derek pushed Stiles over his shoulder and he rolled away, springing up. Derek laughed and jumped up too. They circled each other before Derek charged at Stiles, slotting an arm between his legs and under his armpit and lifted him up easily, throwing him down on his bed.

Stiles let out a cry as they came crashing down on the bed. Derek used Stiles’s shock to reach under his shirt and rake his fingers down Stiles’s side. Stiles laughed and tried to twist away, his body jerking everywhere.

Stiles cried uncle after Derek found a new ticklish spot in the centre of his back. Derek flopped beside Stiles, laughing harder than he had in the past few months. Stiles was gasping and laughing beside him, and Derek could feel his wolf’s happiness, if he had a tail he’s sure it would be wagging excitedly.

* * *

On the run up to Christmas everything was busy, in all parts of his life.

With his pack, names were drawn for the secret Santa. He drew Laura again and had to do more thinking than usual to come up with a present. He would have discussed it with Stiles but since one year Cora gave away who she had, there was a rule that you weren’t allowed to discuss your secret Santa with anyone else. Kate was a great help: she and Laura were similar ages, so Kate could veto any ideas that were too childish.

Things with Kate were busy as she had to spend more time with her family this close to Christmas. The only family member she seemed to get on with was her niece, Allison. She told him all about Allison’s archery competition, she’d come 1st by a long way.

The basketball season was picking up too, he’d had a game every week for the past month. The whole pack had turned out for his first match of the season being as embarrassing as usual. That tapered off as the season carried on, but Stiles came to every match, sometimes holding a ‘Go Derek’ poster or just shouting really loudly.

It’s at the last basketball match before winter break that Kate came to support him. He’d made sure that none of his pack were coming, apart from Stiles. He felt a little added pressure to impress Kate, but the nerves did good things to his gameplay, he managed to score more than usual. During the game, he caught glimpses of Kate and Stiles, both cheering him on. They weren’t sitting together which didn’t really surprise him.

After he’d changed out of his clothes and showered – he didn’t want to smell weird around Kate – and walked out into the car park. Standing by Kate’s SUV was Kate and Stiles, who seemed to be talking. A warm feeling filled Derek, maybe Stiles could finally see that Kate wasn’t so bad, but as he got closer he could see Stiles’ eyebrows furrowed and the almost aggressive stance of the Spark. The two seemed to be in a heated debate but it ended as soon as Derek was in hearing distance. Kate looked unfussed, even smiling when she saw him coming, but Stiles’ face remained suspiciously blank, his arms folded across his chest.

The pack bond flared slightly, thrumming anger permeating across the bond from Stiles. Derek cocked his head at him, but Stiles didn’t answer back, content just to level an icy glare at Derek. It was unnerving and reminded Derek of the library months ago.

“Hi Kate, are you okay?” Derek greeted as warmly as he could. Kate smiled and pulled him into a kiss. Derek tried to enjoy it but the feeling of eyes glaring at the back of his head and the freezing turn in the pack bond made it hard.

“Just fine sweetie, me and Stiles were just having a… rousing debate about the game.”

Derek looked to Stiles, who gave a curt nod and replied coolly, “Yeah, it was very interesting.” Derek rose an eyebrow at Stiles, who ignored him to share a look with Kate. Kate wrapped an arm around Derek’s waist,

“So, would you like to come over tonight, I’m sure your parents wouldn’t mind.”

Before Derek could answer, Stiles cut in, “Actually, we have plans tonight.”

“Oh really, what sort of plans?”

“Family ones,” Stiles gave Derek a pointed stare.

“Oh,” Kate said softly, “That’s alright, I wouldn’t want to come between you and your family Derek.”

Derek smiled apologetically and gave Kate a quick hug, completely missing Stiles rolling his eyes and giving Kate a cold stare.

“I’ll be free next week,” Derek offered.

“Sure that would be great!” Kate pecked Derek on the lips before pulling away, “I’ll see you later boys.”

Derek waved as she got into her car and pulled out of the car park. He turned to Stiles, who looked like he’d tasted something sour.

“What’s wrong?” Derek asked.

“Nothing. Let’s go.” Stiles said shortly, turning on his heels.

“You were a bit rude to Kate,” Derek said as they walked up the street.

“Oh _really_ ,” Stiles said back sarcastically.

“Yes, you were, she was just trying to be nice.”

Stiles stopped and gave Derek a deadpan stare, “I’m sure she was, but I think she could try a little harder.” Then continued walking.

“Why won’t you give her a chance?”

Stiles huffed, “I _was_ going to give her a chance, but then I actually spoke to her and decided you know what, I’m _never_ going to like you.”

“You can’t just decide that from one conversation, Stiles.”

“Watch me.”

Derek sighed, “What were you guys talking about?” Let’s try a different approach.

“The game.”

Derek rolled his eyes, “I know that isn’t true.”

“Well good for you.”

“I’m trying here.”

“Oh really, I hadn’t noticed.”

Derek came to a stop on the sidewalk, “Stiles! Can you just be straight with me for one minute and not reply sarcastically?”

“No because that would be boring Big Bad.” Derek sighed and admitted defeat; they walked the rest of the way to the bus stop in silence.

On the bus they sat in silence too. Derek tried reaching out in the pack bonds instead, but the feelings were muted, even more than the night at the lake. He could still sense Stiles’s anxiety and his anger but almost nothing else.

Stiles didn’t sit near Derek for the entire night, choosing to sit with his mum and Derek’s. Laura had sent him a confused look at the beginning of the night but by the middle she’d lost interest and started plaguing Cora.

At ten his mother sent all the kids, Derek included, to bed. He and Stiles would have protested, but Stiles just went obediently, kissing his mum’s cheek as he passed. Derek followed.

Stiles tried to lose him between the games room and the bathroom but didn’t succeed. Derek planted a hand across the bathroom door, stopping Stiles.

“Tell me what’s wrong.” Derek demanded.

“How about no, Derek.” Stiles said, not meeting Derek’s eyes.

Derek grabbed Stiles bicep, “Why not?”

“Because!” Stiles shouted. Derek flinched back, cowling slightly. Stiles’ eyes were narrowed, shinning gold, his eyebrows contorted into a scowl. Anger ripped through the pack bond, it was almost like Derek’s chest was on fire, stinging like a slap to the face. Derek watched with wide eyes as Stiles yanked Derek’s hand off his arm and pushed past him down the hallway. Derek stood still in shock, his heart pounding in his chest. He looked up when he felt eyes on him. At the bottom of the hall, looking almost _concern_ , was Uncle Peter. Derek shrunk into himself and twisted around, rushing down the hall into his room.

He closed his door softly and leant his back against it. He stood there and for a second he felt… empty, like someone had ripped his heart out again. It was different this time, with Paige… he’d felt it crack and splinter, this… this was so much worse, it was like someone had dug into his chest and _ripped_ it out. Why would this be worse, Paige, she _died_.

Why was it worse?

* * *

Stiles avoided him for the whole last week of term. Derek didn’t see him in the hallways, in the library, out on the quad, anywhere. He didn’t get rides home with Derek and he didn’t visit the house with his mum.

Derek also gained a shadow.

Uncle Peter was now turning up everywhere he was, apart from when he went into his room. It was unnerving, feeling Peter’s stare on his back. Peter didn’t say anything to him and somehow that was worse than if he had. It made the guilt Derek was already feeling even heavier in his chest, the now ever-present sick feeling in his stomach worse.

He’d asked Kate what had happened between her and Stiles as he wasn’t going to get any answers from Stiles if he wasn’t around. Kate told him that she had approached Stiles to talk about the game,

“… because I know he means a lot to you Derek, I wanted to get along with him because you mean a lot to me.” Kate kissed the inside of his wrist. She sighed then, shaking her head, “But when I asked about the game, whether he’d thought you guys had played well he brushed me off. I tried to talk about you instead since we have you in common, but he wouldn’t talk to me, said he wouldn’t talk to an Argent, a hunter. I tried to tell him that I wasn’t like the rest of my family, but he didn’t believe me and then he clammed up as soon as you got closer.” Kate shrugged, a sad look on her face. Derek brushed her hair behind her ear softly and sighed.

“Stiles can be unpredictable but he’s usually pretty accepting.”

“Why wouldn’t he want to like me?”

“I don’t know, I guess he could be jealous but that doesn’t really fit,” Derek fell back onto the pillows, “Maybe he’s jealous that you know, his dad doesn’t know about the supernatural, my mother won’t let Stiles’s mum tell him.”

“That’s a little harsh, isn’t it?”

“Yeah.”

When he got home that night, Uncle Peter was waiting for him in his room. He was lounging on Derek’s bed, back on the headboard, legs stretched out, crossed at the ankle, flipping through a book. Derek let his backpack drop to the floor by his chest of drawers.

“What are you doing in here Peter?” Derek asked.

Peter looked up at him over the edge of his book, “Can’t I visit my favourite nephew?”

Derek gave him an unimpressed look and walked over to where he’d thrown his pyjamas.

“Very well.” Peter said, closing his book with a flourish, “I’ll go straight to the point. What exactly did you do to the little Spark.”

“What?”

Peter rolled his eyes, “Don’t play dumb Derek, even if you’re very good at it,” Peter stood up and paced towards Derek, “I want to know what happened between you and Stiles. As much as I’ve enjoyed the quieter atmosphere, I miss the more interesting conversations.”

“I don’t know.”

Peter narrowed his eyes, “Don’t lie nephew you’re not very good at it, maybe you should ask Stiles to teach you after you’ve sorted your issues.”

Derek snarled, “I don’t need your help.”

“Perhaps but know nephew, if this isn’t sorted, I’ll make sure Talia knows.” Derek nodded, and Peter left taking his book and unimpressed gaze with him. Derek made a point of closing his door firmly and he’s sure Peter was chuckling somewhere in the house.

* * *

Derek made the point of dropping down beside Stiles on the Sunday when they were outside, despite the cold weather, for training. Stiles didn’t acknowledge his presence.

His mother grouped everyone, all the adults excluding Aunt Anna and Claudia, who Derek couldn’t see anywhere, and moved off into the forest. His mother put Laura in charge of Cora, Tom, Derek and Stiles. Derek had snorted but Stiles forced a sharp elbow into his side.

So, now Laura was talking to Cora and Tom about something on the porch, Aunt Anna cuddling Scarlett in the bench swing, leaving Derek and Stiles to their own devices.

“You’re not going to join Laura?” Derek asked carefully.

Stiles sighed, tugging at the grass by his bent knees, “As much as I hate your guts at the moment, listening to Laura prattle on about stuff I already know sounds like a special kind of torture that I’m not up for at the moment.”

Derek chuckled, “And you’d spend most of your time correcting her.”

“And I’d spend most of my time correcting her.” Stiles said amused.

They sat in silence for a while, but it didn’t seem as heavy. Derek knocked his shoulder against Stiles’s who knocked back harder. They pushed back and forth until Stiles shoved at Derek, tipping him over onto the grass. Derek grabbed Stiles’s outstretched hand and tugged him over his chest, rolling over to pin him. Stiles wiggled in his hold, slipping out and rolling backwards away from Derek. They shared a smile, as Derek sat up on his hunches, before Stiles ran at him tackling Derek’s waist and pushing him onto his back. Derek gasped, the air leaving his lungs. Stiles laughed somewhere above him, the weight on his chest disappearing. Derek laughed and flipped over, crouching, looking for Stiles’s red hoodie. He caught a glimpse of it by the house and took off into a sprint.

He darted around the corner and chased Stiles up the short side of the house. For all that Stiles was somewhat human, he was still very fast. The chase lasted until they reach the garden again and Stiles tripped, his limbs flailing. Derek laughed, coming to a stop and instead of helping him up as Stiles asked, he flopped onto him.

“Ah get off!” Stiles choked out, twisting, trying to shift Derek off.

“Don’t hurt him Derek.”

Derek looked over his shoulder and his mother was standing on the edge of the wood with a fond smile. Derek slipped off Stiles, leaning against his side instead. The adults filtered into the house and when Uncle Peter passed, he gave Derek a satisfied smirk.

* * *

Before long, it was Christmas Day.

As per Hale tradition, everyone was awake and downstairs before ten, both excitedly and reluctantly. Derek had to sit through the chaos that always happened when they handed out the secret Santa presents. He wished Stiles had been with him, but the Spark and his mum were spending Christmas morning and afternoon in their own house with the Sheriff and some of their close – human – friends.

Laura seemed to like her present, for the ten seconds she focused on it before she was talking to Aunt Anna. Derek unwrapped his present, a small box of chocolates. He’d been about to throw them next to him when a small card slipped out. In messy handwriting, that Derek recognised as Stiles’s scrawl was, 

_I didn’t want you to have nothing to unwrap, but don’t worry this isn’t your main present._

Derek rose a silent eyebrow and placed the box and card on the table beside him. Lunch was just a few bites of random stuff, they were having their main meal at dinner, when the Stilinski’s were coming.

Derek spent all the time between lunch and dinner reading, though not in his room, per his mother’s request.

At six o’clock, the doorbell rang, and Derek listened to his mother greeting Claudia and the Sheriff. Stiles whipped around the living room door frame and jumped over the back of the sofa, landing crossed legged. He leant over the side of the sofa to peer at Derek’s book.

“What you readin’ Der?”

“A book.” Derek deadpanned.

Stiles gave him a look, “You know I don’t like that attitude there Sourwolf.” Derek snorted and batted the hand trying - and failing - to snatch his book.

“Table everyone!” Derek’s father called from the kitchen. Derek sighed and placed his book mark on his page and dropped the book on the sofa, letting Stiles drag him by the wrist to the table. There was a rush of people jumping into seats. Stiles dragged him to where the Sheriff was sitting, next to Claudia who was sitting at the bottom of the table. Stiles dropped into the seat next to his dad and Derek sat next to him.

His mother sat at the head of the table, as the Alpha. His father and his mother’s first Beta, Adam, sat either side of her, his sister Laura taking her place beside their father. At Derek’s end of the table was Claudia, sat opposite Talia, the Sheriff and Peter sat either side of her. Everyone else was organised haphazardly, mostly in families.

The dinner table was as loud as ever, and Derek sat listening to Stiles and the Sheriff talking about his latest case. It was quite interesting to watch Stiles and his dad speak, their minds working together, until Claudia tapped the Sheriff’s hand and gave him a look. The Sheriff sighed but nodded, telling Stiles that they have to hash it out when Claudia wasn’t around.

Once everyone had finished they moved into the rest of the house, some going into the living room and other to the games room. Derek had been heading to the living room, to find his book before he lost it forever, when Stiles grabbed his hand and tugged him to the back room. Stiles dropped Derek’s winter coat and walking boots into his arms and pulled on his own coat and boots.

“What are you doing?” Derek asked.

Stiles looked up from his boot and smiled, “I’m going to show you your actual Christmas present.”

Derek nodded and pulled his coat on. Stiles threw on his red beanie, blue scarf and fingerless gloves, throwing Derek his black beanie. They trudged through the dark forest – the sun set hours ago – and the moon was high in the sky. Derek followed Stiles down a path then through some trees to another path.

“Where are we going?”

“You’ll see!” They finally emerged by the side of the lake, the moon shining off the still surface.

“Why are we here?”

“You’ll see, now close your eyes.” Derek sighed and closed his eyes, “Cover them with your hands Der, I don’t want you peeking.” Derek did as he was told, though exasperatedly. He couldn’t hear anything much for a second before he could here the sound of… cracking. Derek cocked his ear trying to figure out what the sound was. The cracking stopped suddenly, and Stiles called out,

“Okay, you can look!”

Derek opened his eyes and gasped. Stiles stood the side, with a smug smile. A strip of the lake was now a light blue, almost white, extending out into the middle of the lake. Derek took a step closer.

“What?”

“It’s ice.” Stiles answered smugly, “Come on, it’s safe to walk on.” Stiles reached out and took Derek’s hand in his, guiding them toward the start of the path. Stiles walked onto the ice confidently and watched as Derek took a hesitant step onto the ice. He’d expected to slip and fall or for the ice to crack, but the ice wasn’t slippery at all and it felt as secure as the ground. Stiles laughed at the bewildered look on his face and guided him further onto the ice path. They walked – Stiles surely and Derek carefully – to the centre of the lake. Stiles paused not far from the edge and grinned at Derek.

“Now comes the awesome bit.” Stiles said, rubbing his hands together.

Derek rose an eyebrow.

Stiles took a deep breath and closed his eyes, rubbing his hands together. He let the breath out slowly and tipped his head back. Brightly coloured sparks appeared from his shoulders and rose into the air. Hundreds appeared, floating into the sky, flashes of red, green, blue, purple. Derek watched with wide eyes as the sparks started to spiral, forming a spinning column. Stiles breathed in then opened his eyes and threw his arms out to his sides. The column exploded, spark shooting out across the sky above them, then bursting, creating flares of colour in the otherwise pitch-black sky.

Derek gazed at the sky, mouth slightly open, his breath misting.

Stiles’s shoulders dropped, and he smiled at Derek, “Awesome right?” he said.

Derek nodded slowly, watching the last sparks fizzle out and disappear into the night sky. Derek looked back down at Stiles and he laughed,

“How did you do that?”

Stiles laughed, “A magician never reveals his secrets.”

Derek huffed, “You’re not a magician.”

“No but I am a wizard of sorts.” Derek snorted, and they walked back to the shore together.

“Was it a good Christmas present?” Stiles asked when they got back to the house.

“It was great Stiles.”

“Boys get in here, we’re starting the movie!” Derek’s father called out of one of the windows.

“Coming!” They both yelled back.

* * *

New Year’s passed uneventfully, except that he spent it with Kate. In her bed. Naked.

Stiles had begrudgingly agreed to cover for him. Very begrudgingly, Derek had to bribe him with comics and even then, he owed him a favour. “To be used in any situation I want and it’s in indefinite, I can use this up to when I die of old age.” he’d said.

“So, your family aren’t going to call in the middle of our celebrations.” Kate asked, trailing a finger down Derek’s chest.

That had been embarrassing, answering his mother, his Alpha, with Kate’s head between his legs. Not that he told his mother and she hadn’t asked about it, so Derek assumed that he’d gotten away with it. Stiles had laughed until he’d cried when Derek told him at lunch the next day.

“No, Stiles said he’d cover for us.”

“And we can trust Stiles? He didn’t seem to like me.”

Derek shook his head, “We can trust Stiles, he keeps his promises even when he doesn’t agree with them.”

“If you say so, Derek but remember, you’re your own person, you don’t need the approval of _anyone_.”

* * *

Peter cornered Derek after Sunday training.

“Now dear nephew, if you don’t want your mother to hear about what I want to discuss, I suggest we take a nice stroll in the preserve.”

They walked through the forest silently. Derek could feel his uncle’s eyes on him the whole time. They reached a rock formation, somewhere in the middle of the forest. Peter strolled over to the rocks and leant backwards on it, crossing his arm, fixing Derek with a smug gaze.

“Now nephew I believe there’s something you should tell me.”

“There isn’t.” Derek said back sharply. Peter just smirked.

“Now Derek, I’m not stupid nor I’m I unobservant, I’ve noticed the increase in your disappearances, it’s almost like Paige is back.” Peter gave him a sharp smile, but Derek didn’t rise to the bait, “and the excuse Stiles gave your mother was quite pitiful to be honest, she believed of course but I’m not so easily swayed. Now I’m not going to ask where you’re going or to who, that didn’t exactly turn out well last time, but I hope you know what you’re getting into and how it will effect the pack.”

Derek mostly ignored Peter’s words, except for the Stiles part. Stiles was usually the only person who _could_ fool Uncle Peter.

* * *

The day didn’t start well. Derek woke up late, skipping breakfast to be out of the door just on time. When he got to school, Stiles was already waiting for him by his locker, which wasn’t unusual. What was unusual was the solemn look on Stiles’ face, pared with fidgeting hands.

“What’s wrong?” Derek asked, subtly sniffing Stiles. The boy smelt off. There was anxiety, the chemical smell of medicine, and an undercurrent of unease and _fear_.

Stiles looked down at his hands and shrugged, “I don’t think it’s anything big, well I do but, um, I uh I want to talk, to you, after school, in the library?”

Derek nodded slowly and before he could say anything else, Stiles shot off into the pre-class crowd. Derek lost sight of him quickly but shrugged it off, he’d see him later.

* * *

He didn’t see Stiles later or at lunch or even after the bell rang. Derek made his way to the library anyway, that’s where Stiles wanted to talk after all. He sent a quick text to Kate, telling her he wouldn’t be visiting before Pack Night. The message showed it was received but Kate hadn’t seen it yet. Derek shrugged, she was probably at work.

Derek pushed the library doors open and waved to the librarian. He paused, looking around and sure enough Stiles was flipping through a book in the History section. Nervously flipping it actually, Derek noticed as he got closer. Stiles jerked up when Derek’s shadow passed over him, slamming the book shut and hastily putting it back on the shelf. Derek rose an eyebrow, but Stiles waved him off, peering around his body to look towards the librarian. Derek looked back as well, unsure what Stiles was looking at when he was pulled deeper in to the aisle. Stiles pulled him around the corner and down the side of the library, further away from the door and the librarian.

There weren’t many people in the library, only a few Seniors and a handful of Freshmen. Stiles stopped in the middle of the mythology section, seeming satisfied that they were far away from anyone.

“What’s wrong?” Derek asked, sniffing the air again. Stiles still smelt off, if not more so. The fear and unease even stronger than earlier in the day.

“Umm,” Stiles said, finding his feet extremely interesting all of a sudden, “Well,” Stiles took a deep breath and looked up, staring Derek straight in the eye.

“I think Kate’s planning something.”

Derek rose an eyebrow, “Explain.” He gritted out. Stiles fidgeted under Derek’s gaze but didn’t look away.

“I think Kate’s planning something,” Stiles said, more firmly this time, “to do with the pack.”

“Why?”

Stiles swallowed, “I overheard her and Mr Argent talking, earlier this week. It took me a while to understand what they’d said.”

“What did they say?”

“Um, well at first I thought they were talking about an Argent thing you know, Mr Argent said something like ‘Everyone will be there on Friday, have you talked to the men?’, so I thought they were having a family party or something but then Kate said something weird like ‘Yes they’ll be there with the stuff we need, I already have the ‘Bane.’ And that’s weird right? So, I carried on listening you know because it sounded fishy. Then, then Mr Argent said something even weirder, he said, ‘Make sure you lace it with the powder I gave you or it won’t work on the bitch and her child’ then he said, ‘I’ll make sure it doesn’t become big news.’”

Derek listened carefully, but Stiles didn’t stop.

“So, I started thinking about it, I mean that’s obviously not a family thing, who calls one of their family a bitch seriously like that. Then, I don’t know I was talking with mum and she reminded me that it’s Pack Night on Friday and then it clicked, ‘Bane probably means wolfsbane and we know Mr Argents a hunter and I bet ‘the bitch and her child’ is me and mum because wolfsbane doesn’t work on Sparks or any magic people, it only works on were-creatures.”

Derek thought about it and it made sense but, “Where did you even hear this?”

Stiles looked away guiltily.

“What did you do?” Derek hissed.

Stiles looked up at him wide eyed and answered, “Okay, I might have been following Kate a little bit.”

Derek pushed Stiles back into the bookshelf, “What!” he hissed.

Stiles sighed, “I didn’t like the aura she was putting off, she made me feel uncomfortable and she didn’t exactly scream ‘mild and peaceful’ when I spoke to her after the game, no, she screamed more ‘hostile and borderline psychotic’ so I decided to investigate.”

Derek growled, “You mean interfere and stick your nose in where it doesn’t belong!”

Stiles flinched back and then jerked forward, pushing back at Derek, “Oh, don’t even go there Derek, I’m telling you that someone might be planning on hurting the _pack_ and your first thought is _Kate_.” Stiles shoved harder, pushing Derek back, “I get it, my impulse control is questionable but you’re missing the point here. Hunters. Wolfsbane. Pack. Can you get that into your thick head, somewhere where Kate isn’t, please?!”

Derek snarled, “Why should I believe you!?”

“What?” Stiles asked, stunned.

“Why should I believe you? You could be lying, and I wouldn’t know.”

Stiles snorted, “Dude, you’re a werewolf you can hear my heart beat.”

“But you can lie without your heart beat changing, Stiles.”

Stiles stood still for a second, staring at Derek, “Why won’t you believe me?”

“Because I know you hate Kate and I wouldn’t put it pass you to try and interfere, like you did on New Year’s, you promised you’d cover for me, but you didn’t!”

Stiles gaped at Derek, “If I was going to interfere, I wouldn’t bring pack into it and you know that, you just don’t want to believe that Kate would do something like that and I _did_ cover for you.”

“She wouldn’t!” Derek exclaimed.

“That’s not a reason, give me one reason, one solid reason that she wouldn’t do something.”

“We have a treaty with the Argents and she’s not like her family.”

“When has a treaty done anything Derek! And when she says she’s not like her family, are we a hundred percent sure she means better and not _worse_!”

Derek stood, stock still, as Stiles sighed heavily and rubbed his eyes. Derek could feel the pack bond pounding with emotions, mostly frustration and worry. Stiles sighed again and adjusted his backpack straps, “Derek please, I know you don’t want to but please believe me even for a few hours, you can have the full right to hate my ass and not invite me to your wedding if I’m wrong.”

Derek huffed, “Why can’t you let me be happy Stiles?”

Stiles blanched, “I’m trying to keep you and the pack safe dumbass, I’d rather have you alive and unhappy than _dead_!”

“You can’t decide my life for me Stiles, I don’t need your approval!” Derek snarled back, feeling his eyes flash and his claws dig into his palms.

“Hey, don’t project your issues with Alpha Talia and your dad onto me,”

“I’m not,”

“Yes, you are and also if it looks like a duck, sounds like a duck, acts like a duck and everyone says it’s a duck, dude it’s a duck. Kate’s a hunter and you just don’t see because you want to live in a world where you’re always right!”

“At least she treats me like an equal, not like I’m going to break, which is more than any of the pack.”

“So, you’re just going to let them get hurt because Kate treats you nicely.”

“You don’t have any proof, except what you heard, which might be wrong!” Derek exclaimed, feeling his fangs extending.

“Or it might be right. Either way, I’m going to the house and I’m going to be watching, if I see Kate or anyone else who isn’t pack, I won’t hesitate to stop them, permanently.” Stiles gritted out. He shoved pass Derek towards the end of the aisle and disappeared around the corner. Derek stood there and heard Stiles whisper as he pushed the doors open,

“Please be there tonight Derek.”

Derek huffed, unclenching his fists, blood dripping from the crescent marks in his palms.

* * *

Derek sat at one of the tables, flipping through his English notes, for a few hours. He knew he should’ve left the library at half six to get to the house for seven, but he couldn’t bring himself to go. Stiles hadn’t come back, not that Derek had expected him to, but he’d hoped Stiles would drop the Kate thing. He sighed to himself, Stiles wouldn’t drop it that easily, especially since it concerned pack.

Derek reached out into Stiles’s pack bond but… he couldn’t feel anything. It was like it was being blocked. Slightly concerned he reached out for his parents. The same thing happened, he couldn’t feel any emotion from the bonds. He shrugged it off, Claudia might be practising a new cast or something.

It was at seven twenty, Derek knows because he’d checked his phone just before, that Laura came crashing through the library doors, gaining an unimpressed look from Mrs Anson. She rushed between the tables and slammed her hands in front of Derek, panting hard.

“Derek,” she sobbed.

Derek rose immediately, shoving his books away, “What’s wrong?”

“The house…” was all she said as she grabbed Derek by the hand and dragged him out of the library to her car.

“What’s going on?” Derek asked as they drove through the town.

“Can’t you feel it?” Laura asked, her eyes welling with tears.

“Feel what?”

“The bonds.”

Derek shook his head, “I can’t feel anything, its like it’s being blocked, why?” 

Laura pulled up on the side of the road and turned to Derek, wiping her eyes, “You can’t feel… anything.”

Derek shook his head again, “I can’t feel anything, not even Stiles’s anxiety.”

Laura looked at him, gaped actually, “They hurt Derek, they hurt so much, how can you not feel it?!” she exclaimed.

Derek flinched back when Laura’s eyes glowed red.

“Laura, Laura your eyes, they’re…”

“Red, I know, can’t you feel it, mum’s gone and dad and Aunt Anna, I can barely feel anyone.”

Reality hit Derek like a brick wall.

“Mum, mum’s gone,” he choked out. Laura nodded silently, fresh tears slipping down her face. Derek sat back in his seat and it was like he was drowning,

_“It’s like drowning you know, you can’t breathe, and your chest feels too empty and too full all at once.”_

“Stiles,” Derek gasped.

“I can still feel him Derek.” Laura said as they weaved through the traffic. Derek didn’t notice that they’d arrived at the hospital until loud sirens started to wail all around him. He followed Laura through the door and through the hospital corridors. Standing ahead of them was the Sheriff, talking quickly with the nurse at the front desk. Laura strode over to them,

“Sheriff!” she called out. He turned, and Derek could smell the pain and worry and anger pouring off the sheriff in waves. Laura started to talk to him, waving her hands around. Derek just stood there, the drowning feeling creeping back up on him, starting to take his breath away again. Before it could get any worse, Laura grasped his hand and tugged him into the elevator.

“Uncle Peter’s in the burns department, I’m going to go visit him. Stiles is in the ICU.” She said emotionlessly. They arrived on the four floor and Laura pushed him out, “He’s in room 34.” She said as the doors closed again. Derek looked around, nurses and doctors rushing all around him, looked at the three separate corridors. He chose on at random and stumbled down it.

Half-focused, he found room 38 and wandered further down to 34. He paused outside the door, the scent of anxiety overcome by the smell of medicine and burnt flesh. He pushed to door open and stumbled inside.

Stiles was laying on the hospital bed, clothes swapped for a gown. He wasn’t covered with a blanket and all his legs and parts of his arms, a slither of skin just under the collar of the gown, were wrapped in white dressings, spotted with blood.

Derek sat, tripped really, into the seat beside Stiles.

“Derek?” he mumbled, eyebrows furrowing. Derek tried to speak, but the words wouldn’t come out. Stiles shifted his neck to look at Derek and exposed the left side of his face that was cut and grazed, redness spread across his cheek and up past his eye.

Derek gulped and choked out, “Stiles, I’m so sorry.”

Stiles gave him an amused smile, laughing softly, “I told you so.” He said in a sing-song voice, broken by harsh coughing. 

“I’m so sorry, I should have believed you, I’m sorry,” Derek mumbled, leaning his head against Stiles arm. Stiles chuckled above him and pulled his arm out from under Derek’s head, resting it instead on Derek’s neck, fingers rubbing the skin there smoothly. 

“Oh yeah, totally. I’m always right Sourwolf but it’s okay Derek, it’s okay.” 

“Stiles,” Derek gasped out, his eyes blearing with sudden tears. Stiles shifted in his bed before slowly sitting up. He flinched but grabbed Derek’s shoulders anyway, pulling him into Stiles’s chest. Derek sobbed quietly into Stiles’s shoulder, his arms wrapped around the boy as tightly as he dared. Stiles hummed and rubbed Derek’s back soothingly.

“Should you even be sitting up?” Derek asked finally, guiding Stiles back down onto the bed. Stiles coughed again just as harshly, gagging slightly.

“Probably not,” Stiles croaked out, coughing again before chuckling softly. Derek huffed but didn’t let go of Stiles’s hand.

“I-” Derek started but Stiles interrupted.

“I know Derek and I told you it’s okay, just please don’t have sex with her again, I can’t stand the dopey look you get on your face after, seriously it makes me want to vomit several times over.” Derek gave a startled laugh which descended into choked crying.

“Dude you’re supposed to laugh not cry, come one man.” 

Derek huffed, wiping his eyes, “How many times have I told you-”

“Don’t call you dude, I know, you just got to say it a couple hundred times for it to actually stick.”

Derek snorted and shook his head. He gripped Stiles’s hand firmly, started to take some of Stiles’s pain. Stiles slumped deeper into the bed and sighed.

“What happened?” Derek asked quietly.

“She surrounded the house with that wolfsbane mix thing, me and mum tried to break it, but it wouldn’t budge. Then some assholes threw petrol bombs through the windows, parts of the floor and walls burst into flames. Peter and Talia guided everyone down into the basement, to go out the tunnel but it was blocked.”

“Blocked?”

Stiles nodded, “Yeah, I don’t know how they knew but they did and Der before you get any not-so-bright ideas, I don’t think it had anything to do with you and Kate, the blockade didn’t feel like her and trust me I would know if it was her, she has a very sickly vibe.” Derek nodded. 

He rubbed Stiles hand in his own, turning it over to look at the patch of burnt skin on the back. “Something happened to the bonds too,” Derek explained, “I couldn’t feel them. Still can’t.”

Stiles looked down, fiddling with the sheet beneath him, “I might have blocked them before the hunters finished the circle.”

“What?”

“It was an in the moment thing, I kinda just went ‘I don’t want Derek to feel us die’ and puff it was done.”

They sat in silence for a while, Derek draining Stiles pain through his hand, Stiles looking up to the ceiling. Stiles turned to Derek when he shifted in the chair.

“I don’t blame you,” Stiles said simply but firmly, “This wasn’t your fault, it’s Kate and her father’s and those guys, you’re a victim too Derek, don’t forget that.” Derek couldn’t say anything, so he just nodded, rubbing Stiles’s palm with the pads of his fingers.

“Hey,” Stiles said, “Can you do me that favour you owe me, go and see Peter, since as I’m kinda tied up at the moment.” Stiles wiggled his eyebrows at the pun. Derek snorted, shaking his head, standing.

“I’m only going because that was an awful pun.” Derek said.

Stiles looked at Derek incredulously, “Hey, my puns are fantastic, thank you.”

“Sure they are.” Derek said as he opened the door. Stiles gave him the finger as he stepped out.

He wandered back to the elevator, going down the two levels to where Peter was. He could hear Peter’s and his sister’s heart beats down the left corridor and as he followed a blonde nurse walking down the corridor, he felt something shift around him. He shook it off until suddenly as he neared his uncle’s room, a thousand emotions crashed down on him.

He barely stumbled to the floor before the emotions became overwhelming: fear, anger, pain so strong he felt sick, sadness, grief, death. The pack bonds cried out, one by one snapping, pain rippling through Derek’s body, his heart aching so painfully he felt tears prick at his eyes. Someone shook him, it might be Laura, but he couldn’t surface, the pain too heavy, drowning him.

Then the final bond snapped, and a spark of pain stabbed into his chest. Derek cried out, his scream echoing through the hospital.

_Stiles._

His wolf howled.


End file.
